Multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator

ABSTRACT

A multiple channel television display system suitable for receiving information (data) from a variety of sources and selectively displaying the information as alphanumeric characters on a plurality of television channels is disclosed. The information sources may be newswires, stock report wires, remote or local keyboards, temperature probes, etc. The information is received by computer control logic which feeds information to and receives instructions from a suitably programmed general purpose digital computer. The computer, in accordance with the information received by it relating to the receipt of information by the computer control logic from the various information sources, selectively interrogates the computer control logic to receive, in accordance with a priority arrangement, the information from the various information sources. The information from the various sources received by the computer is edited, if necessary. The computer instructs the computer control logic in a manner such that a different alphanumeric character display is generated on the picture tubes of connected television sets for each of the plurality of channels. In addition, the alphanumeric character displays can be made to appear to move (scroll) upwardly or downwardly, or they can be made to appear as consecutive pages on the display.

United States Patent Dalke et a1.

[ 1 Sept. 30, 1975 i 1 MULTIPLE CHANNEL ALPHANUMERIC RESIDENTIAL TELEVISION VIDEO SIGNAL GENERATOR [751 Inventors: James A. Dalke, Bellevue; Wayne E.

I-Iough, Seattle. both of Wash.

[73] Assignee: MelroData Corporation, Seattle,

Wash.

22] Filed: Sept. 14, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 397,288

[52] US. Cl. 340/324 AD; 340/152 [51] Int. Cl.-' G06F 3/14 [58] Field of Search 340/324 AD. 152. 154

[56] References Cited v UNITED STATES PATENTS 3.453.384 7/1969 Donner et a1 340/324 AD 3.500.327 3/1970 Belcher et al.... 340/324 AD 3.500.335 3/1970 Cuccio 340/324 AD 3.555.520 l/l97l Hclbig et a1 340/324 AD 3.569.617 3/1971 Allen et a1. 340/324 AD 3.624.632 11/1971 3.641.559 2/1972 3.685.038 8/1972 Flanagan 340/324 AD Primary Exuminer-Marshall M. Curtis Attorney. Agent. or FirmChristensen. OConnor. Garrison & Havelka [57] ABSTRACT A multiple channel television display system suitable for receiving information (data) from a variety of sources and selectively displaying the information as alphanumeric characters on a plurality of television channels is disclosed. The information sources may be newswires. stock report wires. remote or local keyboards. temperature probes. etc. The information is received by computer control logic which feeds information to and receives instructions from a suitably programmed general purpose digital computer. The computer. in accordance with the information received by it relating to the receipt of information by the computer control logic from the various information sources. selectively interrogates the computer control logic to receive. in accordance with a priority arrangement, the infonnation from the various information sources. The information from the various sources received by the computer is edited. if necessary. The computer instructs the computer control logic in a manner such that a different alphanumeric character display is generated on the picture tubes of connected television sets for each of the plurality of channels. In addition. the alphanumeric character displays can be made to appear to move (scroll) upwardly or downwardly. or they can be made to appear as consecutive pages on the display.

29 Claims. 66 Drawing Figures 108 l NE ws/ TEMPERATURE STOCKS sENsoR (FIG. 34) I30 /02 (I04 (I06 /12 /14 I I J 1 I I KEYBOARD COMMUNIQA TION INTERFACE COMPUTER COMPUTER TRANSMITTER SYSTEM (FIG. 5) CONTROL (FIG. 2) LOGIC FIG. 6)

FREQUENCY CHARACTER sYNTHEslzER ADDRESS (FIG. I5) SELECTOR FIG. 5a NO 12a /22 (I24 L J CHARACTER OHROMA MODULATOR r- GENERATOR GENERATOR To TV (FIG. 47) (FIG. 54) RECEIVER 1 ,-/2s l 1 SCROLL/N6 l I" LOGIC 1 I I I l L f I SYNC a r 1 GENERATOR I FIG. 4a 1 I PAG/NG K 1 LOGIC I 1 FIG. as I- US. Patent Sept. 30,1975

Sheet 2 0f 30 I O/C/TAL- OSCILLATOR L P/s CONVERTER TO-TONE 42 /a4\/" CONVERTER EN I07 (FIG. 4) PARALLEL L, OATA V 105 STROBE Ps CONVERTER 0 KEYBOARD CNTROL LOG/C To REPEAT COMMUNICATI W (F/C. 3) "5f SYSTEM /O/ f BREAK j PuLsE CENERATOR- ONE I13 F 5K SHOT 11/ 1. I TRANS- REPEATO% 6/ G2 0 0 G3 M/TTER lail/ r- 3 If 1' 4 w r- R/NG O RING DETECTOR -/52 J OR/C/NATE/ ANSWER SWITCH To TO COMMUNICA- COMPUTER TION SYSTEM CONTROL 1 LOG/C 154 OATA DATA DATA TRANSMITTER RECEIVER OUT h y l .DATA' OCARR OATA LN A D OUT o IN US. Patent Sept. 30,1975 Sheet3of30 3,909,818

SELECT LOG/C (FIG. I7) l7! R7, CARR, DATA nv, I760 H2, 4800 H2 DATA 0 w 'R' FA IL D ISCONNECT -DATA /5 NEWSLINE INPUT NE U E ws /v INTERFACE g 2727 H2 U TO AND FROM TA 5, DATA la, OMPUTER 1% 6 I I4,YDATA I5 -DA"'"TA l5 TA 0-DATA l5 READY, F'DAD' OUTPUT (A20-A27) DISPLAY LOGIC v AI-A I5 (FIG. 29)

, DATAI5 I HZ -U P- CLOCK AND [0 PULSE.

THERMOMETER GOTCHA INTERFACE m (FIGS. 36 ,5 3?) DATA //v TP T/V I66 PRIOR/TY ENCODER INTA (FIG. 18) W U.S. Patant Sept. 30,1975 Sheet 9 of 30 3,909,818

D85 I SEL 7 E92 2 SEL 6 F323 3 SEL 5 F52 DECODER 737 EN SEL 2 556 SEL 4 INTA INTP IN IRQ 3 INTR ck 4 a: 4 INTR (T0 (FROM ,SQBSYQ'EMS) COMPUTER) US. Patent Sept. 30,1975

"R08 0-- ea? DATA 8 RD? 0; G86 DATA 9 R06 m G85 DATA l0 OT G88 SEL 7 0-1 0 F R05 684 DATA G89 DATA /3 g PE 0 1 FROM INTERNAL R04 F DATA] D T ss FROM $90 4 A A BU 683 DATA INTERNAL FE 0 DATA BUSS s91 DATA I 682 DATA I3 OR 0 5 R02 0 68/ DA TA 4 1:731. 28

RD/ 0 @Q-QDATA l5 '252 I0 PULSEO-- J o/RQ s STRT o- OUTPUT o/ NTR CLR o--- BUSY/DONE osTLs SEL 6 oq- (fi g os ELD /0RST o DATA2 0 A8-A/5 MSKO of AI-A7 RQENB c -25? 2sa\ /-2s5 T l 231/] y ess {25a READY DISPLAY L0AD WORD ASSEMBLY ag 2 GENERATOR REGISTER REGISTER LOAD o-- (F161 (FIG. 32)

254 T I 00A 6 DOB DATA 0- 0 DATA 8- DATA l5 DATA I5 Sheet 14 of 30 US. Patent Sept. 30,1975 Sheet 16 of 30 3,909,818

/26O READY I A XTZfiI G IEATDR S D Q Y5 FF25 T 5 T {237 /'C R O 23/ T @7OLOAD DATA 8-DATA /5o l0 (PARALLEL) 262 REGISTER o7 PARALLEL 1, ouTPuTs (Al-A7) E C L SEL 6 o- 6/04 DOB O,

I0RST DATA o-DATA 7 (PARALLEL) FIRST CHARACTER STORAGE 243 I25 REGISTER 0-LQ-EN L CL IORST a T $-oa PARALLEL SEL 6 1'2 I OUTPUTS DOA sEco/vD CHARACTER STORAGE REGISTER EN v-2sa DATA 8-DATA 15c (PARALLEL) US. Patent Sept. 30,1975

Sheet 17 0f 30 REFERENCE RT/ RTZ CLEAR uP l COMPA RATOR DN UP DIGITAL TO ANALOG C ON VER TER UP/DN c ou/v TER CLEAR UP ON COUNTER CONTROL LOGIC GOTCHA O ONE FF26 SHOT 3 DN 0 D O (FIG. 35)

Mil

CLEAR UP 5N GOTCHA 

1. A multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator for receiving information from a variety of sources, such as keyboard, newsline, weather service and stockline sources, and creating video signals suitable for creating a plurality of channel related alphanumeric displays on residential television receivers, each alphanumeric display being dedicated to information related to a particular subject matter, such as weather, sports, general news, local news, stocks, etc., said multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator comprising:
 1. a digital computer suitable for receiving information related to a variety of subjects, manipulating that information and, in accordance therewith, generating a variety of control instructions;
 2. computer control logic connected to said digital computer, said computer control logic comprising: a. at least one dial-up port adapted to receive keyboard generated information from a keyboard source, and dialup port control instructions from said computer, and apply said received keyboard information to said computer in accordance with said dial-up port control instructions; b. at least one newsline interface adapted to receive newsline information, such as news information, weather information, and stock information from a newsline source, and newsline control instructions from said computer, and apply said received newsline information to said computer in accordance with said newsline control instructions; c. output display logic for receiving character generation instructions and output display logic instructions from said computer, and apply said character generation instructions to a multiple channel character generation means in accordance with said output display logic instructions; and, d. select logic means for: i. receiving select logic instructions from said computer; ii. selecting one of said at least one dial-up port, said at least one newsline interface, and said output display logic; and, iii. controlling the application of said keyboard generated information, said newsline information and said character generation instructions to one of said computer and said multiple channel character generation means in accordance with said selection; and
 3. multiple channel character generation means connected to said control logic means for receiving said character generation instructions and for creating, in accordance therewith, a plurality of video signals, one video signal related to one of a plurality of channels, said video signals being suitable for forming an alphanumeric display dedicated to a particular subject matter on the screen of residential television receivers adapted to receive said video signals.
 2. computer control logic connected to said digital computer, said computer control logic comprising: a. at least one dial-up port adapted to receive keyboard generated information from a keyboard source, and dialup port control instructions from said computer, and apply said received keyboard information to said computer in accordance with said dial-up port control instructions; b. at least one newsline interface adapted to receive newsline information, such as news information, weather information, and stock information from a newsline source, and newsline control instructions from said computer, and apply said received newsline information to said computer in accordance with said newsline control instructions; c. output display logic for receiving character generation instructions and output display logic instructions from said computer, and apply said character generation instructions to a multiple channel character generation means in accordance with said output display logic instructions; and, d. select logic means for: i. receiving select logic instructions from said computer; ii. selecting one of said at least one dial-up port, said at least one newsline interface, and said output display logic; and, iii. controlling the application of said keyboard generated information, said newsline information and said character generation instructions to one of said computer and said multiple channel character generation means in accordance with said selection; and
 2. A multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said at least one dial-up port, said at least one newsline interface, and said output display logic is adapted to apply an interrupt signal to said computer and generate an interrupt location identification signal when said at least one dial-up port, said at least one newsline interface and said output display logic is ready to transmit information to or receive instructions from said computer; and, wherein said computer control logic includes a priority encoder connected to said at least one dial-up port, said at least one newsline interface and said output display logic for receiving said interrupt signals and said interrupt location identification signals and for applying a digital information priority code to said computer in accordance with said received interrupt location identification signals, said priority code identifying the one of said at least one dial-up port, said at least one newsline interface and said output display logic ready to transmit information to or receive instructions from said computer having the highest priority when compared with the others of said at least one dial-up port, said at least one newsline interface and said output display logic.
 3. multiple channel character generation means connected to said control logic means for receiving said character generation instructions and for creating, in accordance therewith, a plurality of video signals, one video signal related to one of a plurality of channels, said video signals being suitable for forming an alphanumeric display dedicated to a particular subject matter on the screen of residential television receivers adapted to receive said video signals.
 3. A multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator as claimed in claim 2, wherein said keyboard generated information received by said at least one dial-up port and said newsline information received by said at least one newsline interface are in series digital form and wherein said computer control logic includes serial-to-parallel conversion means for converting said series digital keyboard generated and said newsline information from series form to parallel form and applying said parallel form of said keyboard generated and said newsline information to said computer.
 4. A multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator as claimed in claim 3, wherein each of said at least one dial-up port, said at least one newsline interface and said output display logic includes busy/done logic for applying signals to said computer indicating the busy status of its associated system when it is busy and the done status of its associated system when it is idle.
 5. A multiple channel alphanumberic residential television video signal generator as claimed in claim 4, wherein said computer control logic includes a clock and thermometer interface adapted to receive a digital signal related to the time of day and temperature information in digital form related to the weather temperature, and clock and thermometer interface instructions from said computer, and apply said digital signal related to the time of day and said digital information relalted to weather temperature to said computer in accordance with said clock and thermometer interface control instructions, said clock and thermometer interface also generating an interrupt signal and an interrupt location identification signal and applying said signals to said computer and said priority encoder, respectively, said clock and thermometer interface further being connected to said select logic for receiving a selection signal from said select logic.
 6. A multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator as claimed in claim 5 including a frequency synthesizer: connected to said clock and thermometer interface for generating said timing signals related to the time of day; connected to said at least one dial-up port for applying clock pulses to said at least one dial-up port, said clock pulses being used by said dial-up port to control the rate of conversion of the serially received keyboard information into parallel information suitable for application to said computer; and, connected to said at least one newsline interface for applying clock pulses to said at least one newsline interface, said clock pulses being used by said at least one newsline interface to control the rate of conversion of the serially received newsline information into parallel information suitable for application to said computer.
 7. A multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator as claimed in claim 6, wherein said character generation instructions include character address instructions and character nature instructions and wherein said multiple channel character generator generation means includes, for each of said plurality of channels: A. a character address selector for receiving said character address instructions and for generating a character address signal in accordance therewith; and B. a character generator connected to said character address selector in a manner such that said character generator is selectively made operative to receive said character is selectively made operative to receive said character nature instructions.
 8. A multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator as claimEd in claim 7, wherein the video signals are adapted to form a noninterlaced display on residential television receivers adapted to receive and display in alphanumeric form the information contained in said video signals.
 9. A multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator as claimed in claim 8 including a sync generator connected to said character generator, said sync generator generating a plurality of timing signals suitable for use by said character generator, said plurality of timing signals including a set of binary code signals, said code signals uniquely identifying dot points on the face of the cathode ray tube of a residential television receiver.
 10. A multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator as claimed in claim 9 wherein said binary code which uniquely identifies dot points on the face of the cathode ray tube of a residential television receiver is broken into dot position identification codes, character position identification codes, TV line identification codes and character row position identification codes, each code being defined in a binary manner.
 11. A multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator as claimed in claim 10, wherein said dot position identification codes identify seven dots on a television receiver for each of said character positions; wherein said character position codes identify 52 character positions on a TV scan line; wherein said TV line identification codes identify 12 lines for each of said row position codes; and, wherein said row position identification codes identify a plurality of character rows.
 12. A multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator as claimed in claim 11, wherein said noninterlaced scan produces 263 television lines, said 263 television lines creating an entire alphanumeric display produced as a result of the receipt of one of said plurality of video signals.
 13. A multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator as claimed in claim 12, wherein 16 rows of characters are displayed on said cathode ray tube of a residential television receiver receiving one of said video signals and producing an alphanumeric display in accordance therewith, and wherein only 32 of the 52 character positions on a TV scan line are utilized in a single display.
 14. A multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator as claimed in claim 7, wherein at least one of said character generators includes a page storage means suitable for storing all of the character instructions necessary to identify the characters to be displayed on a complete display, said character generator further including row storage registers connected to the output of said page storage register to read out and store all of the information related to a particular row of characters at one time.
 15. A multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator as claimed in claim 14, including a plurality of chroma generators, one being connected to the output of each of said character generators for adding color information to the video signal output of its associated character generator.
 16. A multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator as claimed in claim 14, wherein said page storage means is adapted to store all of the character nature instructions necessary to display a plurality of complete displays; and, including means to switch the display from page-to-page of the character nature instructions stored by said page storage means in a sequential manner.
 17. A multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator as claimed in claim 16 including at least one scrolling logic connected to at least one of said plurality of character generators for causing the television display of the associated channel to appear to scroll as the display switches from page-to-page of The pages stored in said page storage register, whereby a complete display made up of one of more pages is always displayed on a residential television receiver receiving the video signal related to said at least one of said plurality of character generators.
 18. A multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator as claimed in claim 1, wherein said computer control logic includes a clock and thermometer interface adapted to receive a digital signal related to the time of day and temperature information in digital form related to the weather temperature, and clock and thermometer interface instructions from said computer, and apply said digital signal related to the time of day and said digital information related to weather temperature to said computer in accordance with said clock and thermometer interface control instructions, said clock and thermometer interface also generating an interrupt signal and an interrupt location identification signal and applying said signals to said computer and said priority encoder, respectively, said clock and thermometer interface further being connected to said select logic for receiving a selection signal from said select logic.
 19. A multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator as claimed in claim 18, wherein said keyboard generated information received by said at least one dial-up port and said newsline information received by said at least one newsline interface are in series digital form and wherein said computer control logic includes serial-to-parallel conversion means for converting said series digital keyboard generated and said newsline information from series form to parallel form and applying said parallel form of said keyboard generated and said newsline information to said computer.
 20. A multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator as claimed in claim 19 including a frequency synthesizer: connected to said clock and thermometer interface for generating said timing signals related to the time of day; connected to said at least one dial-up port for applying clock pulses to said at least one dial-up port, said clock pulses being used by said dial-up port to control the rate of conversion of the serially received keyboard information into parallel information suitable for application to said computer; and, connected to said at least one newsline interface for applying clock pulses to said at least one newsline interface, said clock pulses being used by said at least one newsline interface to control the rate of conversion of the serially received newsline information into parallel information suitable for application to said computer.
 21. A multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator as claimed in claim 1, wherein said character generation instructions include character address instructions and character nature instructions and wherein said multiple channel character generator generation means includes, for each of said plurality of channels: A. a character address selector for receiving said character address instructions and for generating a character address signal in accordance therewith; and, B. a character generator connected to said character address selector in a manner such that said character generator is selectively made operative to receive said character nature instructions.
 22. A multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator as claimed in claim 21, wherein at least one of said character generators includes a page storage means suitable for storing all of the character instructions necessary to identify the characters to be displayed on a complete display, said character generator further including row storage registers connected to the output of said page storage register to read out and store all of the information related to a particular row of characters at one time.
 23. A multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signaL generator as claimed in claim 22, wherein said page storage means is adapted to store all of the character nature instructions necessary to display a plurality of complete displays; and, including means to switch the display from page-to-page of the character nature instructions stored by said page storage means in a sequential manner.
 24. A multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator as claimed in claim 23 including at least one scrolling logic connected to at least one of said plurality of character generators for causing the television display of the associated channel to appear to scroll as the display switches from page-to-page of the pages stored in said page storage register, whereby a complete display made up of one or more pages is always displayed on a residential television receiver receiving the video signal related to said at least one of said plurality of character generators.
 25. A multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator as claimed in claim 21, including a plurality of chroma generators, one being connected to the output of each of said character generators for adding color information to the video signal output of its associated character generator.
 26. A multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator as claimed in claim 25, wherein the video signals are adapted to form a noninterlaced display on residential television receivers adapted to receive and display in alphanumeric form the information contained in said video signals.
 27. A multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator as claimed in claim 26, wherein said noninterlaced scan produces 263 television lines, said 263 television lines covering the entire face of the cathode ray tube of a residential television receiver creating an alphanumeric display produced as a result of the receipt of one of said plurality of video signals.
 28. A multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the video signals are adapted to form a noninterlaced display on residential television receivers adapted to receive and display in alphanumeric form the information contained in said video signals.
 29. A multiple channel alphanumeric residential television video signal generator as claimed in claim 28, wherein said noninterlaced scan produces 263 television lines, said 263 television lines covering the entire face of the cathode ray tube of a residential television receiver creating an alphanumeric display produced as a result of the receipt of one of said plurality of video signals. 